1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to exchanging vehicle identification data and more particularly, to communicating vehicle identification data over a wireless network in response to a collision.
2. Description of the Related Art
Drivers and motor vehicles are occasionally involved in traffic collisions. Collisions are usually resolved amicably, with drivers exchanging identification and insurance information. Drivers typically also report their respective versions of the collision to an investigating police officer.
Unfortunately, on some occasions the drivers involved in a collision may not exchange information honestly or accurately. Drivers may communicate fraudulent information to avoid financial liability for a collision. A driver may also leave the scene of a traffic accident without exchanging information. Some drivers involved in collisions become so enraged or hostile that it is not safe to communicate with the hostile driver. As a result, drivers involved in a traffic accident may not always be able to safely exchange information.
Collision information is also sometimes not accurately communicated to the investigating police office or to an insurance representative. Drivers may honestly disagree about the facts of a collision, including the speed each vehicle was traveling or sequence of events in the collision. A driver may also fraudulently misrepresent the facts of a traffic accident. Vital information regarding a collision may be lost to the police investigators or to a driver's insurance company.
Wireless communication devices have been proposed that communicate a vehicle's identification information. Unfortunately, many wireless communication devices have been expensive to install in a vehicle. The communication devices often require adding sensors to detect collisions and cameras to capture collision information to the host vehicle, making the installation prohibitively expensive. Other wireless communication devices have been proposed that regularly transmit vehicle identification and state information. However, the regular transmission of vehicle information is often objectionable due to privacy concerns of drivers.
What is needed is a method, apparatus, and system that accurately and safely communicates identification information to the vehicles involved in a collision in response to the collision. What is further needed is a method, apparatus, and system that uses the vehicle's existing data system to detect collisions. Beneficially, such a process, apparatus, and system would automatically communicate vehicle identifier information between vehicles in the event of a collision and save the communicated information for retrieval. The process, apparatus, and system would also reduce the cost of exchanging vehicle identifiers by using the host vehicle's existing vehicle data system to detect collisions.